UEA (2019) dealing with the unexpected and on to 2nd Year

[juicy0]

New thread for the parents of 2019 freshers. Thank you all for sticking around!
At the start of the year we never would have guessed the topics that are currently being discussed in this page but I'm grateful we still have each other to help navigate our way through this with our DC.
With the emptying of 1st year rooms seemingly on hold for many until the end of lockdown our thoughts will soon turn to 2nd year accommodation and whether term is likely to start as normal in September.

Article regarding testing at UEA for students

www.uea.ac.uk/news/-/article/uea-launches-asymptomatic-covid-19-testing-for-staff-and-students

Thanks for sharing @juicy0

Thank you Juicy!

DS just messaged to say that a fresher that he coached sport to last week has had a positive COVID test. No tests available for him on campus today but he has his car and is booked into a test centre 30 mins away. He hasn't got any symptoms. Then back home to self-isolate until he gets his results. I hope the results come back quickly so that if he is fine he can get out of his tiny box room.

Hope your DS is okay @GoldenRuby. So much for the testing at UEA - or do you think it's totally oversubscribed at the moment?

@GoldenRuby do you mind me asking how your ds has managed to get a test. The current guidance says only to be tested via nhs if you have symptoms? DD requested a uea test but there are currently none available so she is awaiting an email to say when one comes up.

@juicy0 I don't have many details (DS's Whatsapp messages aren't the most informative). All I know is that my DS was running trials for freshers and one of them has tested positive - I believe they were asymptomatic and identified as part of the UEA test programme. They then notified the club who sought advice from the uni, who told them to be on the safe side that everyone who was at the trials had to get tested and isolate until they get a negative result. This is probably in the region of 30+ people, who were all outside and maintaining social distancing during the session; it feels like an over reaction but they need to be seen to be taking it seriously. As far as I know DS then went on the NHS site and got a test booked in Attlebrough (sp?) - I don't know if he had to say he had been told to get a Test or whether they were told to say they had been in contact with someone who was positive. I assume he didn't say he had symptoms, as he hasn't got any.

We think DS actually had Covid just before lockdown - he came home for Easter a week early as he was so ill (but only expected to be there for a few days so left most of his clothes behind, which made the next few months interesting). There was no testing available at the time, outside of hospital in-patients. I am hoping that if he did have it he hasn't got any residual traces, like those poor chaps stuck in Italy for 6 weeks as they keep testing positive.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 thanks. I think they must be over-subscribed. It's a shame as the Uni ones seem to have a faster turnaround for results than the NHS ones.

I asked ds if he was going to have the covid test available to all students. He's filled out the form online. But no spaces at the moment. One lad in his house has his tomorrow.

@GoldenRuby Attleborough isn't far from UEA. Just along the a11 takes about 20 mins. Annoying he couldn't have it on site though.

Thanks @GoldenRuby I hope he stays well and the result in negative. The risk outdoors is apparently much less so hoping he'll be ok.

DS was amazed that his dozy home town low figures is going into lockdown in Wales whereas figures in Leeds are so high yet everyone is cracking on having some kind of a life.

My DS (fresher) had a UEA Covid test today - self-administered and then dropped off on campus and will apparently get the results back by Thursday. I think he registered for it before he left home. Incidentally, he seems to have settled in pretty well, is getting on great with his flat mates and is okay (atm) with his course being online. He thinks there might be some f2f seminars in a couple of weeks, but who knows... To be honest, after 7 months of being stuck at home with DH and myself he’s happy to have a change of scenery, a bit of structure to his days, some real independence and a new city to explore. It probably helps that he’s doing humanities which, even in the good-old pre-Covid days involved a lot of reading and self-study and no practical elements, lab work etc, so a bit easier to cope with. But I do worry that this is going to be the shape of things to come for the next 6 months - and probably beyond...

Managed to speak to DS and it looks like most of his work is online, he had two lectures yesterday.
He said he was hoping to have a f2f meeting with his tutor but I'm not sure if that is because of what went wrong last year, or if everyone is having this.
I'm leaving for Canada tomorrow, I'm still feeling a bit apprehensive about leaving DS as he does seem to have some days when his mood isn't great, but I can't really do much about that even when I'm here in the UK, so I just have to hope that it all works out.
I'm really looking forward to seeing my DH and the dog, however it's rather disappointing to have found out that Montreal has just gone into a 'red alert' phase and all bars and restaurants are being closed from 1st October, they are currently saying for 28 days but who knows how long it might be for.
I've got to quarantine for 14 days but had hoped to enjoy going out a bit/city life but it looks like it may be a long, cold, quite winter ☹️

Re being tested on the grounds of getting tested because of being a close contact, rather than having symptoms oneself, DS2 (Yr13) is currently self isolating because he was deemed to be a close contact of someone in one of his A level classes who tested positive last week. This is the message that the school has sent out on the advice of PHE:

Your child should only get a test if they themselves are exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19. Any negative test result during the 14-day isolation period, however welcome, does not end the isolation period... (reference here to the actually letter containing details of required action)
...(because the virus can take many days to incubate).

The development of symptoms and (/or)a positive test would trigger his own 10-day further isolation from that point and a 14 day period for us, which will be the situation that his classmate and their household are currently in.

DS said he had five lectures for geography yesterday (can that be right?). I am wondering whether he's binge watched most of the term's ones in one sitting?

Bon voyage @Itscoldouthere although a great pity that you are subject to Montreal's 'red alert' measures. At least you will be back with your DH and dog.

A PITA for you and your DS2 @MarchingFrogs

On the subject of your DS2, now that he's told you, hopefully he will be able to be more open about how he is feeling which is half the battle? Hoping he does get more support from UEA this year too.

A pity for you and your DS2 @MarchingFrogs.

I sort of feel it's only a matter of time for all of us, in terms of SI, don't you?

Welcome @Cafeconleche. Glad to hear your DS is settling in well. DN has also started at UEA and seems to be enjoying herself too.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18, not us having to isolate with him (yet!), as we definitely have had no contact with the pupil in question. DS2 is fairly hermit-like anyway when at home and as it happens, the remains of the 14 days (only a week to go) coincides with a fairly 'teaching light' phase of his timetable, so he would have been at home most of the time, anyway.

@Itscoldouthere I hope you have a good journey back to Canada. I'm sure ds will be fine. As you say not much you can do on his down days wherever you are.

Ds enjoyed his first lecture this week. He says they have a face to face lab time session in 3 weeks. Hopefully it'll go ahead. He's signed up for the covid test that they can all have. But can't actually get one so far. Someone in his house is having one today.

I followed the link on the other university page where we can sign up for emails about Covid in certain areas. Norwich is showing as 1 new case yesterday. Yet on the news last night it said 2 students on campus had tested positive. So not sure how accurate it all is. Only 1 in my local area too. It makes me think sometimes that all this isn't so bad as it seems. But I guess cases are going to go up.

Welcome to the UEA family, new parents. Hope your DC are all enjoying their early weeks.
Just popped on to wish itscoldoutthere a good journey. This is the final bit in a long preparation so I'm sure you are looking forward to just getting on with it now. Enjoy the flight
DS1 (medicine) is having the usual 9 to 5 routine with placements, lectures, groups etc and they have been told they just need to get on with it.
DS2 (geography) has online lectures but was thinking there might be a lab session this week too. I think the timetable is not 100% finalised yet.

I am finding the whole SI thing a bit complicated to understand @MarchingFrogs. So you would only have to SI as a household if your DS2 gets a positive result?

Yes, most teenagers are quite hermit-like these days. DD less so with being the only child left at home now, but we don't see much of her really (although we hear all her online socialising with her friends as she's not quiet!).

Thanks @NewModelArmyMayhem18 and @sluj I’ve been keeping an eye on this thread since last year. DS wasn’t too badly shafted by the algorithm on results day but, after some deliberation, turned down his RG firm in favour of UEA. He didn’t want to defer so figured he would have a better Covid year in Norwich and on a leafy campus rather than in a large city with a huge number of students. I’m not convinced by the whole RG marketing thing anyway - I was at UEA myself back in the dark ages (early 80s) when unis were either Oxbridge/ancient, Red Brick or Plate Glass...

@Cafeconleche from its general positioning in the university league tables I would say UEA is equivalent to RG universities, wouldn't you? I have seen it feature as a good university that's often overlooked (probably because it's not RG) - I call it a hidden gem with a lot going for it, particularly since it got its medical school!

Good that your DS is following in your footsteps. It must be bringing back lots of memories for you?

Absolutely @NewModelArmyMayhem18 - a real hidden gem and right up there with many of the RGs (which also don’t include St Andrew’s, Bath, Loughborough etc as group members...) The latest Sunday Times Good University Guide reflects that.

And yes, DS being at UEA is bringing back loads of memories - he called me yesterday when I was out walking the dog and he was on his way to the square to drop off his Covid test. We kept chatting as he wandered into Waterstones and I could see myself standing in the (then) University bookshop many moons ago picking up books from my reading list (some of which he’s taken with him) All quite surreal and yet comforting in these strange, uncertain times.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 if someone in a household tests positive then the whole household has to isolate. If you get contacted by the nhs test and trace I think only the person contacted has to isolate, unless they get symptoms, then the whole house has to isolate. Is that what you meant?

I hadn't really thought about it until I read something earlier...if someone in a student house (or any other house for that matter) let's say person 1 has symptoms everyone in that household has to isolate. If person 1 gets a positive test then everyone continues to isolate for the 14 days. If person 1 is better they can stop isolating after 10 days. But if a second person, so person 2 tests positive say 11 or 12 days later, then the rest of the house has to isolate again for 14 days from that positive test apart from person 1. So if it sweeps through a household slowly surely some could be isolating for several weeks?

Good news, DS's test came back negative. It also looks as if UEA in consultation with the club have slightly changed their advice so that the coaches/captains who were directing the sessions from the sidelines but not involved in the match play are now not considered to be in close contact - so he probably didn't need a test after all.

Oh that's good news @GoldenRuby.

Thanks for filling in my blanks @icanbewhatiwant re self-isolating protocol.